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Topic: Qualifiers. (Read 26411 times)

we draw possibly the worst team in the country this year, many in Wicklow want Magee out, so I would say secretly Wicklow are in the same boat as us as they may want out of this championship pronto.

Although we should beat Wicklow, a defeat could be a blessing in disguise, because what we would face in the next qualifier round could be another horror show........if we win, 3 of the 4 options in the next round, would involve playing the losers of one of these provincial semis: Galway/Mayo, Donegal/Tyrone or Kildare/Meath.........imagine the mauling some of those teams would inflict upon us!.

Any word on whether any of the panel have dropped off since the Kildare game and are off to the States?

Laois have been training hard since October and no one should question their commitment but the difference in pace, power and turnovers was alarming. In the modern era there shouldn't be such a gap in this aspect. Is it different training methods?

Any word on whether any of the panel have dropped off since the Kildare game and are off to the States?

Laois have been training hard since October and no one should question their commitment but the difference in pace, power and turnovers was alarming. In the modern era there shouldn't be such a gap in this aspect. Is it different training methods?

That's a good point Butch. I saw nothing on Sunday that told me all of that effort was worth it. That's a terrible thing to say, but when you have a team that is fitter, faster, hungrier and just plain better, then it begs the question, what is the actual point here? I don't believe for a minute that even if the Dublin set up was put in charge of Laois that we would beat Kildare. We don't have the players necessary to succeed. It doesn't matter what we do.

Just had a look at our side of the draw. If I'm correct and if we beat Wicklow, we'll play the losers of Kildare/Meath if it's Meath, Galway/Mayo, Tyrone/Donegal or Kerry/Clare. I wouldn't be overly optimistic of a qualifier run.

I might be over simplifying things but I think a major factor in our defeat to Kildare is : Fitness, S&C, tactics. Player for player, on a raw talent level, I think we match them. They're not a kerry or dublin : they were just well drilled, knew their role and were fit and strong : all attributes that can be coached / developed.

Look what we did in the McNulty era with a similar level squad : yes the football was horrible to look at but we were very competitive and not lacking for fitness, s&c.

When Kildare and Laois were FRESH in the first 25 minutes or so this year, it was a game. There wasn't a whole lot between the teams. When the legs gave out, we were chasing shadows all day. Our fitness was poor relative to Kildare and anyone that plays the game knows that fitness is huge. When your legs give out and your lungs are busted your level goes way way down.

Look at any fight for proof on that : if a boxer gasses out, he's done - suddenly his technique and work rate is minimised. I believe we gassed out terribly vs Kildare and in addition had no proper drilling, tactics, or conditioning. It was a foregone conclusion really.

From that perspective, I'm disappointed in Creedon to a certain extent. It's been 9 months or so since he arrived : I'd expect better fitness. HOWEVER, anyone who knows anything about a good level of fitness knows it takes at least a year or two to create a good fitness base including s&c which we don't seem to have to a good level : in addition we are just getting a lot of lads back since March and April which doesn't help.

Someone said if we get the Dublin set up in, for example, it wouldn't make a difference. I think that's incorrect. A dublin type setup in Laois for the next 4-5 years would see progress. A focussed, progressive, proactive setup would get us more competitive.

Unfortunately for us, we don't seem to have a lot of talent coming through but AGAIN, that's down to coaching and development and a lot can be done to turn decent -12'S/14's into good minors. It never happens by accident. These lads need to be nurtured correctly. That IS NOT happening at present.

Long story short : you get out of something what you put in. I'm not sure what Creedon will do if he stays but I do believe that we need a holistic overhaul of the whole setup, if we want to be competitive in the next 8 - 10 years. That all depends on the knowledge level and will of the CB and people in charge. They need to set up proper structures - if they don't know how, copy one of the leading counties. It's not rocket science and it doesn't necessarily have to cost the earth. Juts common sense, people with ambition, desire and knowledge. Otherwise, we'll be swimming in a sea of 20 or so counties that won't have a chance as their prep will be just as poor as ours.

Not very excited for the qualifiers but we'll likely get over Wicklow and lose the next round. We simply don't have the required fitness this year to challenge any top 16 team. Creedon sounds a bit low energy and unenthusiastic in his interviews. I backed him earlier this year but coming around to the possibility that he simply doesn't have the desire to turn around this capsized ship over the long-term. I hope I'm wrong as he is a smart guy, I just don't see him loving the Laois experience enough to want to devote everything to turning it around (maybe I'm wrong). I would be open to a new, young, SMART, FORWARD THINKING, Laois man, but he's got to have the will and KNOWLEDGE to do it long-term, and we've got to have people all around the county to provide good standards for our young players coming up. Tall ask but possible if the will is there. Maybe it just isn't, who knows. It probably isn't in all likelyhood but that's what we NEED, and badly.

there has to be a culture change, Ill discipline still a problem both on and off the pitch. Would there be anybody locally that would be respected enough but also ruthless enough to deal with these problems

Local parish priest? We need to get realistic. Ill discipline is a SMALL issue in the scale of things. We either : A - get a set up from u12 - senior across the board that rival the top 8 teams or B - Be happy where we're at and just become the next Leitrim or Wicklow. My guess is we'll do B, but there is that opportunity to do a decent job at A. We need good, dedicated people (a la Cheddar and Critchley with the hurlers) to have any hope. The old guard at CB haven't a clue how to take us forward. Getting paid and comfortable. No desire to improve. It really looks like we'll be languishing around 3rd / 4th div for next 10 years unless something radical and proactive is done from u-12 up and the RIGHT people are involved. There are GOOD dedicated people in Laois GAA, time to utilise those correctly.

Thanks tony ,at the present time if creedon is moved on who locally would you like to see coach them. I mentioned ill discipline because throughout the league we had a lot of players black carded this year and along with some serious messing leading up to the championship

Are many travelling Saturday? Morale seems to be pretty low among supporters, would a win against Wicklow lift it any bit even? As an earlier poster said it's a no win situation really, lose - "we are completely useless", win - "If they couldn't beat Wicklow they might as well forget about it". I hope they win, although it's delaying the inevitable, that is the case for the majority of teams. You would expect to see some changes from the last day, there probably isn't going to much change in term of personnel but you would hope to see changes in approach. My biggest worry is how management react to the how the game is playing out, I feel they are so slow to react when the opposition are getting a run on us or whatever our approach is, isn't working.

I find it interesting that nobody appears to have left the panel. They really do seem to like the setup. I think the best case scenario this year is we beat wicklow and then show against a good team that we're not as bad as the Kildare showing suggests. I just hope, if we do win against wicklow, that the next team is not as fit and fast as Kildare. Then we may make it competitive. Knowing some of the lads, they will really want to come back to show their worth, so let's see. I'd be satisfied with a win vs wicklow, and then a good performance. Then we need to get our house in order for 2018-2025.